It has often been attempted throughout the baking industry to provide baked goods and flour confections that may have cinnamon or sweet cinnamon flavoring therein. This is usually achieved simply by the introduction of cinnamon into the flour mixture during its preparation. Occasionally, such as in sweet buns, the cinnamon may be mixed with butter and/or sugar and/or oils, and then swirled into the dough just prior to its being placed in pans or on baking trays for baking.
However, the baking and flour confection industry and the market that it serves are always looking for ways to improve their products, and to introduce new products having specific flavors but differing presentation and/or mouth-sense. One specific requirement that has so far not been met has been the requirement to provide cinnamon flavored additives for incorporation into baked goods and flour confections, where the cinnamon additive has a discrete presence in the baked good or flour confection when it is consumed. Specifically, it has been known for many years to provide such discrete flavoring additives as chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, and the like, for baked goods and flour confections. However, it has not been possible to provide such chips having a good cinnamon flavor release.
Moreover, particularly for incorporation into confection items, it is sometimes desired to have a mouth-sense or crunch such as that which might be found in hard candy--or, more particularly, granulated sugar. Such a criterion is, however, not generally capable of incorporation into baked goods and flour confections. On the other hand, the mere incorporation of granulated sugar does not give a desirable result, because there is no specific carrier in which the granulated sugar may maintain its crystal structure.
Unexpectedly, the present inventor has discovered that by providing a fat-based carrier system that is substantially anhydrous and that comprises a bakery-compatible oil which exhibits substantially the same solid fat index curve characteristics as those of butter fat--so that it is substantially solid at room temperature--then ground cinnamon and granulated sugar may be properly incorporated into the fat system in appropriate proportions and used as flavoring additives in baked goods and flour confections. The resultant product, which may take the form of a flake or chunk, maintains its integrity as a discrete flavoring additive, and when it is consumed it will exhibit the mouth-sense that is required whereby the flake or chunk will be sufficiently granular in nature so as to crunch when it is bitten. As noted hereafter, other finely ground natural flavoring ingredients that are compatible with sugar for sweetening may also be used. Moreover, as discussed hereafter, essentially the same fat system may be incorporated into snack items.
It will be understood, for purposes of this discussion, that use of the word "chunk" implies that the manufactured fat-based discrete flavoring additive product may be in the form of a flake--this is, having a relatively small thickness compared to its length or breadth--or it may take the form of a chunk, which has a relatively large thickness compared to its length and breadth. As noted below, in general neither the flakes or chunks are molded; rather, they are manufactured from a layer of mixed ingredients that are placed on a moving belt and passed through a cooling tunnel, after which they are broken into flakes or chunks.
In order to provide a bakery-compatible oil which may be mixed with liquid butter fats, where the oil and any mixture thereof with butter fat will exhibit a solid fat index curve characteristic which is essentially identical to that of butter fat, there are several criteria which must be satisfied. In particular, the oils that are used in the preparation of fat-based discrete flavoring additives of the present invention must be such that after they are solidified they will not smear when mixed into a bakery mix prior to being baked, and that they should remain substantially solidified and relatively firm during the baking process. Still further, the bakery-compatible oils used in the fat system of the present invention must be such that they will commence to melt in the mouth at approximately 35.degree. C.; and of course, the oils or fats used in the fat system of the present invention must not otherwise conflict with or be intolerable with the intended baked goods or flour confections into which they will be incorporated.
Of course, it is also true that the oils or fats and other ingredients used in preparation of fat-based discrete flavoring additives or snack items of the present invention must be compatible with requirements for controlled ingredient legends and other labelling provisions that are imposed on food products.
One particular goal of the present invention is to provide flavoring additives or snack items whereby cinnamon or other natural flavoring ingredients that are compatible with sugar for sweetening may be carried into a baked product or other flour confection while being suspended in a bakery-compatible fat which has the physical form of a flake or chunk. It has been noted above that the bakery-compatible oil, when liquid, might be mixed with liquid butter fat. In any event, the bakery-compatible oil will exhibit substantially identical solid fat index curve characteristics as those of butter fat. What that means is that the fat ingredients of the present invention will exhibit solid, melting, and liquid characteristics similar to those of butter fat whether or not butter fat is, indeed, included in the homogenous mix of bakery-compatible oils. Therefore, certain dietary and/or religious requirements which preclude the actual use of butter in certain food items which may be consumed at particular times, will be fully satisfied by the sweet fat-based flavoring flakes or chunks of the present invention.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide snack items having a layer of the basic sweet flavored fat system according to the present invention together with granulated sugar incorporated therein, placed on a sweet biscuit. The sweet biscuit may be such as tea biscuits, arrowroot, bran filled digestive biscuits, graham wafers, and the like. The purpose is to provide a snack--a small portion of food that is usually tasty and which may or may not be consumed at the table--or even a light desert-like serving of sweet, easily consumed and easily digested food. In any event, the snack system provided by the present invention employs essentially the same fat system which is flavored with cinnamon or other flavorings compatible with sugar, as discussed below, which may be easily manufactured essentially be molding a layer of the sweet fat-based system and placing a sweet biscuit onto or slightly into the surface of that layer before it has fully cooled. When cooled, the snack item with have exceptional shelf-life, and it will be substantially anhydrous and firm, and thus without a fatty or greasy touch when held in the fingers for the purposes of consuming the same.
One prior flavoring additive is that taught in FEHR et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,582,353 issued Jun. 1, 1971. There, a flavored and/or colored shortening material of hard fat having a sharp melting point is used, and distributed into the bakery mix. What results is distributed localized areas throughout the baked product, when it has been baked, that have a particular mouth sensation similar to that of butter. The flavoring materials may include spices, simulated meat, fruit, fowl, or vegetable flavors, or other dairy flavors, as well as organic acids to provide sour flavors and the like. The resulting baked product is reported to have identifiable localized areas of the colored and/or flavored flakes in spots throughout the baked product, that have a discernable taste. It must be noted, however, that the FEHR et al patent describes only localized areas of concentrated flavor where the flavor is not necessarily a true or real flavor, and particularly which might be specifically of a gummy texture and/or caramelized flavor. Moreover, the FEHR et al product is essentially fat, having very little solid constituent present, and not being capable of providing a mouth-sense which includes a crunch due to the presence of granulated sugar, as in the case of the present invention.
Because of the fat system incorporated into fat-based discrete flavoring additives of the present invention, the dry cinnamon or other sweet flavored flakes or chunks provided by this invention may be incorporated into baked products or other flour confections in such a manner that varying products as tea biscuits or muffins which may have a relatively fast baking time--for example, ten or fifteen minutes--at baking temperatures of about 177.degree. C. (350.degree. F.) may be made; while other discrete flakes or chunks according to the present invention may be baked into breads or other confections that might have baking times of thirty to forty minutes at temperatures above 177.degree. C.
Moreover, the present invention also contemplates the provision of other flavoring additives that have the same general characteristics and criteria as discussed above, but in which the flavoring ingredient is other than cinnamon. Specifically, the present invention contemplates other natural flavoring agents that are compatible with sugar for sweetening, and that may be finely ground so as to be suspended in the fat system which forms the basis of the dry fat-based flake or chunk, or snack item, together with granulated sugar. Such other natural flavoring ingredients may be, for example, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, maple sugar (or dehydrated maple syrup), or mixtures thereof.